1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless telephone set utilizing a base unit incorporating a built-in facsimile apparatus and a cordless unit, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for informing a user of the status of the facsimile apparatus by an aural message via the cordless unit during a facsimile receiving mode or a facsimile transmitting mode.
2. Background Art
Wireless telephone sets comprising a base unit and cordless unit are common place, and use of a facsimile apparatus with the wireless telephone sets is also known as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,485 to Motohiko Hayashi entitled Facsimile Apparatus Comprising Cordless Telephone Set which wherein the content of a received call over a telephone line to the base unit controls whether or not the call is directed towards the facsimile apparatus. Additionally, it is known to provide a wireless telephone sets comprising a base unit and a cordless handset with a cordless facsimile apparatus as set forth, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,763 entitled Communication Apparatus With Wireless Intercommunication by Takeshi Namekawa, which also suggests that the content of a received call over a telephone line to the base unit control whether or not the call is directed towards the facsimile apparatus.
In a conventional facsimile system, problems, such a paper jamming, no paper, lost communication connection, etc, are known which cause an interruption or incomplete transmission of the facsimile data to a receiving facsimile apparatus. When such a problem arises it is known to provide some indication, such as a print out, that the transmission was not completed, thus informing the sender that it is necessary to retransmit the facsimile data. If the problem exits with the receiving facsimile apparatus, then the retransmission of the facsimile data will not be satisfactorily completed unless an operator of the receiving facsimile has corrected the problem. Similarly, it is known to store facsimile data at the transmitting facsimile apparatus for later unmanned transmission, and if a problem exists at the receiving facsimile apparatus, then the operator of the transmitting facsimile apparatus will be unaware of such a problem until returning to location of the transmitting facsimile apparatus and finding a report indicating that the facsimile transmission was not completed. Additionally, problems, such as paper jamming during scanning and transmission of a document, can occur at the transmission facsimile apparatus. Furthermore, a communication channel is cut off at the moment a problem occurs with the facsimile transmission, thus inconveniencing the user by making the user attempt a retransmission of the facsimile data.
With wireless telephone sets incorporating a facsimile apparatus, transmission of facsimile data by incorporating a transmission key in the cordless handset for remotely controlling a facsimile transmitting mode by detecting, in the base unit, activation of the transmission key, after speaking over the telephone by use of the cordless handset, has been contemplated. Also, when it is desired to receive facsimile data after speaking over the telephone via the cordless handset, use of a reception key incorporated into the cordless handset has been contemplated to permit reception of facsimile data in a receiving mode, by detecting, in the base unit, activation of the reception key. Accordingly, problems similar to those discussed above with respect to known facsimile systems can also occur in the facsimile apparatus associated with a wireless telephone set.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for controlling a facsimile apparatus from a cordless handset of a wireless telephone set.
Another object to provide a method and apparatus for controlling, from the cordless handset, a transmission mode or a reception mode of the facsimile apparatus.
Yet another object to provide an aural message to a user of the cordless handset when an error occurs when attempting to control one of the transmission or reception modes of the facsimile apparatus.
Still yet another object to provide an aural message to the user of the cordless handset for informing the user of a current operating status of the facsimile apparatus during the transmission and reception modes.
A further object to provide an aural message to the user of the cordless handset for informing the user of an operational error of the facsimile apparatus during the transmission and reception modes.
To achieve these objects and other objects, there is provided a wireless telephone set having a cordless handset and a base unit incorporating a facsimile apparatus. The cordless handset comprises a transmission mode key and a reception mode key which may be activated by a user of the cordless handset for controlling the facsimile apparatus in order to transmit or receive facsimile data. A voice mixer is provided which stores a plurality of messages to be read out and processed in order to transmit an aural message to the cordless handset under the control of a control unit in accordance with specific codes indicating the current status of the facsimile apparatus.